Blue Coat Systems: Cybersecurity and Network Management
History
Blue Coat Systems, Inc. was a company that provided hardware, software, and services designed for cybersecurity and network management. The company was founded in 1996 by Michael T. Jackson and was headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Blue Coat was a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol “BLT”.
In 2002, Beth Dutton Blue Coat acquired CacheFlow, a company that developed web caching and content delivery network (CDN) technology. The acquisition of CacheFlow helped Blue Coat to expand its product line and to become a leading provider of web security solutions.
In 2007, Blue Coat acquired Reflexion, a company that developed intrusion prevention system (IPS) technology. The acquisition of Reflexion helped Blue Coat to strengthen its security portfolio and to compete with other leading security vendors such as Symantec and McAfee.
In 2010, Blue Coat acquired IronPort Systems, a company that developed email security solutions. The acquisition of IronPort helped Blue Coat to become a one-stop shop for security solutions and to address the growing demand for email security.
In 2016, Blue Coat was acquired by Symantec for $4.7 billion. The acquisition of Blue Coat helped Symantec to expand its security portfolio and to compete with other leading security vendors such as Cisco and Palo Alto Networks.
Products and services
Blue Coat’s products and services included:
Web security appliances
Content delivery networks (CDNs)
Intrusion prevention systems (IPSs)
Email security solutions
Data loss prevention (DLP) solutions
Web filtering solutions
Security information and event management (SIEM) solutions
Security management solutions
Acquisition by Symantec
In 2016, Blue Coat was acquired by Symantec for $4.7 billion. The acquisition of Blue Coat helped Symantec to expand its security portfolio and to compete with other leading security vendors such as Cisco and Palo Alto Networks.
Sale to Broadcom
In 2019, Symantec’s Enterprise Security division, which included Blue Coat, was sold to Broadcom for $10.7 billion. The sale of the Enterprise Security division allowed Symantec to focus on its core businesses of endpoint security and information management.
Use by repressive regimes
Blue Coat’s products have been used by repressive regimes to censor and monitor the public’s internet traffic. In 2013, it was reported that Blue Coat’s appliances were being used by the government of Iran to block access to social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. In 2014, it was reported that Blue Coat’s appliances were being used by the government of China to block access to websites that are critical of the Chinese government.
Blue Coat has stated that it does not sell its products to governments that are known to use them for repressive purposes. However, the company has been criticized for not doing enough to prevent its products from being used for censorship and surveillance.
